To Die Halfway
by Sirrius The Moonblade
Summary: This is old, characterization is bad, read at your own risk... yes, another "origin of Danny's powers" story. enjoy. R'n'R please, UNBETA'D. NO OWN PHOTO


**A/N: Friends, fellow authors, enemies, etc.**

**I wrote this a looooong time ago (November 18,2014 Tuesday), and probably won't fix it up to much. You have been warned.**

**There's a lot of "The Portal Incident" FFs out there, but I wanted to add my own twist. I very carefully watched the intro, paid attention to that one episode ("Memory Blank"), and speculated personal ideas that were added to this. May you find enjoyment in reading this.**

**By the way, this is the 'first time around' before Sam had to 'redo' it.**

**Also, to 'smote your head/forehead' was the original term for facepalming. Now you know.**

**DISCLAIMER:**** I am not Butch. I am not a man. I therefore do not own **_**Danny Phantom**_**.**

**Death! The leaves, their end, do meet,**

**When fateful Autumn comes to greet.**

**Death! To flowers of the field,**

**For Winter's cold does dare not yield.**

**Death! To snow, down hills it runs,**

**But not far 'nough from Spring's young Sun.**

**Death! To cool, newborn air,**

**Summer's heat is fin'ly there.**

**~Rachnoch Surren/SirriusTheMoonblade**

To Die Halfway

"Danny!"

A raven-haired boy with baby blue eyes hurried down the stairs to the basement, shouting, "I swear it wasn't me! It was Jazz! She-"

He abruptly cut off once he saw his mother's smiling face. His dad too had a large grin plastered on his face. "Never mind Jazz, Danny-boy! We want to share our new invention with you!"

Danny Fenton raised an eyebrow and glanced at his mom, Maddie Fenton. She was a tall, thin scientific woman with shoulder-length red-brown hair and a quick-witted look about her. She sported a turquoise blue jumpsuit and worked as a 'Paranormal expert' alongside her husband, Jack Fenton.

Jack Fenton himself was a large, imposing man in an orange jumpsuit. Although not always aware of what was going on around him, he was an expert with technology and as good in the lab as his wife. He dearly loved his wife and kids, but could become quite obsessive about ghosts.

He smiled broadly at his fourteen year old son, and pulling down a diagram out of thin air, eagerly explained their newest invention to Danny.

"You see Danny-boy, this is the ghost portal. It's a hole through the trans-dimensino-whatsit into a world unseen. That of ghosts! We'll be able to monitor activity of spectral beings and learn more about them. Maybe even catch and dissect one! And today we're gonna test it!" He pointed at the portal, a very fancy hole in the wall.

"Madds, the plug please."

Maddie gave the cords to her husband. Smiling gleefully he plugged it in.

A little Zap and a spark, then nothing.

Jack was pouting, sad the portal hadn't worked. Maddie put a reassuring arm around her husband. "It's okay sweetie, we'll find a way. We probably just missed a few algorithms. Let's go eat some fudge, hmm?"

Jack consented and went upstairs with her.

Left alone, Danny peered at the cold, metal portal. The cold, metal, not working portal. He felt bad because his dad had been so excited about it. His mom too. They may be at times embarrassing, but they were doing what they loved.

_Maybe I can try to fix it,_ he thought, going up to the hole in the wall. Looking into its unwelcome interior though, he got a bad sense of foreboding. _Maybe not_, he inwardly sighed. He slumped his shoulders and walked away.

**LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK**

_-3 Days Later-_

Danny glanced around the lab cautiously. Noticing everything was in order, he whispered, "All clear."

His friends- the gothic, black-haired, amethyst-eyed Samantha Manson; and the mischievous techno geek, Tucker Foley- followed him into the lab.

Tucker whistled in appreciation, "Dude, sweet lab."

Danny glanced around nervously, as though he was being followed by an assassin. His parents didn't know they were in there. "Just, don't touch anything."

"Relax," Sam said. "Just pose for the picture."

Danny complied by standing in front of the portal's dials and holding a hazmat suit that was mainly white with black boots, gloves, belt, and neckline. After telling his friends about the _failed_ ghost portal, Sam insisted on a picture for 'Historical purposes' and Tuck just wanted to see the lab. After being asked to death about it relentlessly, Danny had reluctantly agreed.

"Smile!" *SNAP* The camera flashed.

Danny glanced around nervously once more. "Okay, I showed you guys the portal. Now let's go before my dad comes home. Plus…i-it doesn't work anyway."

"Oh, come _on_ Danny! Isn't it cool? I mean- a ghost zone? Seriously? Who knows what's in there! You gotta check it out!" Sam's eyes glowed with excitement.

_Well, it doesn't work. Anyways, I did want to fix it for them…_"You know what, you're right. Who _knows_ what exists on the other side of that portal." He slipped on the hazmat suit, braving himself to go inside.

"Hang on," Sam stopped him, ripping the Jack-sticker from the front of the suit. "You can't go around with _that_ on your chest."

Danny gave her a quick smile of thanks that evaporated as he turned towards the portal. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside. It was dim inside, but he saw nothing strange. He couldn't really see much inside. His limited vision caused him to trip on a thick power cord, which caused him to stick his arm out to catch himself, and resulted in him accidentally hitting a little button marked ON.

A thrumming sound started and picked up in speed, and then the portal came to life. Then his soul was shredded and altered.

The pain was intense, shredding through him as the ectoplasmic dimension tried to come into focus. He felt like he was dying. He _was_ dying, and against all logic, all so-called science, his body did the only thing it could do. Survive.

His DNA, instead of being fried by the ectoplasmic particles, altered genetically before his body gave out.

And that's when the screaming started.

It was the only thing he could do. His throat became raw quickly, and if the lab hadn't been sound proof all of Amity would have heard his screams of pain. As his soul was shredded apart, he screamed over and over, just wanting the pain to stop.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker yelled in unison. Thinking quickly, Tucker ran forward and pulled the plugs apart, cutting off the portal's energy feed. Sam ran forward to catch Danny as he stumbled and fell out of the vortex, only to gasp as he slipped _through_ her hands.

"Danny?" Sam cautiously approached the boy kneeling on the floor, her voice was barely a whisper. Her eyes roamed over him, noting the hazmat suit's inversion. Danny had changed as well.

Danny groaned and glanced up at Sam, meeting her eyes. She gasped, and his expression grew confused.

"Dude?" Tucker inquired.

"I-I think I'm okay. Just a little shocked." He grinned at his bad joke, but instantly began to frown when he noticed his friends' faces. "Guys, what's wrong?"

"Dude, you might wanna look in a mirror," Tuck answered, that weird expression still on his face.

Frowning, Danny gingerly got up, and walked up the stairs to the downstairs bathroom. Looking into the mirror above the sink, he took in his reflection. He gasped and leaned forward.

He didn't pay much attention to the inverted hazmat suit, rather, he took stock of his physical changes. His hair that had once been darker than a raven's shadow was now snow-white, and his innocent, baby blue eyes were replaced with a monstrous glowing green colour. His body gave a slight aura and he was in pale shades except for his eyes and hair.

"Wh-what ha-happened to m-me? Am I d-dead?!" He stammered, terrified.

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other. This wasn't good. Wasn't good at all. Danny was hyperventilating and would completely freak if they weren't careful. But he needed to know the truth. Tuck gave her a slight nod. Taking a breath, Sam ventured to speak. "When I tried to catch you, you slid right through my hands. I-I think you might have…turned into a ghost."

Danny slid to the floor and pulled his knees to his chest. He started sobbing into his knees, vigorously shaking. "I don't want to die. I don't want to be dead. I don't want to be a ghost. I want to stay alive and be with my family and friends. How can I be a ghost? It's not fa-"

Sam dropped to the floor, and after a hesitant moment put her hand on his shoulder. When she spoke, her own voice was chocked with tears. "It's okay Danny, we'll figure this out."

She let out a relieved sigh as his sobbing quieted some. Suddenly, there was a strange noise, and she snatched her hand away. Both Tucker and Sam's eyes widened as a blue-tinged white ring appeared around his middle and split sideways in opposite directions. His hair turned back to its midnight-hue and even his normal clothes appeared on his body. Danny didn't notice, still sniffling a bit.

"Uh, Danny?" Tucker's voice made Danny look up, and both noticed Danny's beautiful baby blue eyes were back.

"What?" He asked, voice raw.

Sam's mouth hung open, unable to form words. Luckily, Tucker found his tongue and exclaimed, "Dude! You're you again! I mean alive! Er, not a ghost!"

"What?!" He exclaimed in disbelief. He glanced down at his body and noticed his normal attire had replaced the hazmat suit. He glanced back up and noticed Sam offering her hand, which he took. As she helped him up, he gave a weak smile, then went over to the mirror. Sure enough, he saw his own normal, _non-ghostly_ face looking back.

"So…what happened? Did _That_ really happen? Am I… Am I okay now-?" He trailed off and gave a yelp of surprise as his hands began to go through the sink. Quickly he pulled them out and clasped them together. Nice and solid again.

"So, what? You're _part __**ghost**_ now?" Tucker asked skeptically.

Sam smote her forehead, "Of course! The portal! By turning it on and being exposed to all that 'ghost energy', coupled with the electrocution, must have turned you into a- a 'Half-ghost'!"

Tucker's eyes widened in realization. "But that means…"

"…I'm half dead," Danny said in disbelief, sliding down to the floor once more. "I'm halfway dead…but still alive. I'm-I'm Schrödinger's fricken' cat!"

Sam carefully put an arm around her friend. "Danny, we'll get through this together. You know Tuck and I have your back no matter what."

Tucker nodded. "Yeah dude, your secret's our secret."

Later, when Danny's parents and his sister Jasmine came home, they noticed Danny walking in pain. He explained how he had went to try to fix his parents portal but ended up getting shocked. Tucker and Sam backed his story. For the rest of the night, his mother and sister fussed over him, while his father checked out the now working ghost portal. He never mentioned his ghost powers.

And that's when the lies began.


End file.
